Two Polk County men, ages 18 and 19, died Thursday afternoon when their car lost traction on rain-soaked Recker Highway and hit an oncoming semi tractor-trailer, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Friday morning.
The crash happened at about 2:20 p.m. at 5155 Recker Highway, near Commercial Boulevard. The Sheriff’s Office said that, according to video and witness statements, a 2016 Buick La Crosse driven by Cameron Williams, 19, of Auburndale was heading north when it hit a large puddle and began to spin. The car spun into the path of a 2013 Kenworth semi-tractor with a 53-foot Coca-Cola trailer driven south by Orlando Velez, 61, of Riverview.
The truck struck the car’s passenger side, and both vehicles left the west side of the road and hit a utility pole. The passenger in the Buick, Neil Bryant II, 18, of Winter Haven, was ejected.
First responders from the Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Fire Rescue found Williams and Bryant dead at the scene. Velez was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated and released, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The investigation is ongoing.